The manner in which our minds, emotions and tongues function is perhaps the greatest indicator of our spiritual health and psychological strength. If our minds are clean and clear, they will undoubtedly influence both our emotions and our tongues in positive ways. When our thoughts are motivated by positive purposes, our thought lives will be fruitful; and when our emotions are well-ordered, our words will be blessings to others.
As a matter of fact, the tongue does not influence either our thought lives or our emotions; rather, it is controlled by the ideas and perspectives we allow to exist in our brains and by the emotions we embrace. Thus, if our minds are cluttered with unproductive or damaging thoughts, and if our emotions are unsettled, we can find ourselves facing a number of unpleasant issues.
Foundationally, we must understand that the tongue is merely the mirror of our thoughts and emotions. In order to speak words that are graced for godly purposes, we must first investigate the DNA of our minds and hearts. The Lord created your mind, heart and your mouth for specific and God-honoring purposes. When your thoughts, emotions and words are working together for a sacred objective, your life can be transformed and make a glorious impact on your family, on others in your sphere of influence and on people for generations to come!
You will be able to guide your mind, guard your heart and grace your tongue when you allow the Bible to laser its way through all of the ugly "stuff" in your life. To "guide your mind" means dealing with issues related to your thinking habits and patterns. You must examine exactly what you have allowed to take up space in your vital gray matter and how you can replace negative thoughts with positive, uplifting ones.
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Your life starts in your mind! If you want to live a vibrant, joyful life that enjoys the nature of God, it will always begin in your brain. When you "guard your heart," you learn to control your emotional responses to life, while offering a healthy, emotional prescription that will enable you to live the way God intended you to. After re-aligning your mind and heart, you must "grace your tongue," which involves learning to clean up the "verbal vomit" you have spewed on unsuspecting people in your world.
Stored within the Scriptures is a vast treasure that will enable you to think the right thoughts, to control your emotional extravagance and to never again regret another word you speak. "The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things" (Prov. 15:28, ESV). The Bible offers instructions concerning our thought lives; it coaches us in how to maintain a healthy, emotional makeup; and it has much to say about the power of the tongue. Reading, studying and memorizing the Bible is the miracle cure for healing our disorderly thought lives, our emotional instabilities and our "mouth disease."
When you develop a wise mindset due to being saturated with the Word of God, it will be impossible for you to continually embrace a foolish heart. Why? Your heart takes its cues from your thought life, which is the nerve center of your existence. Your heart will look into the mirror of your mind and your emotions will reflect the thoughts your mind is thinking. The process may take a while ... but it will happen! You will find that when your heart and mind are in sync, your tongue will become a shadow-dancer for this dynamic duo. Your lips will speak the wisdom that flows from your renewed and reconstructed mind and heart.
You will be able to teach people God's truth, to comfort those in pain and to heal those who are emotionally wounded because that is exactly what the Holy Spirit does. You will become like Him. "The heart of the wise instructs his mouth and adds persuasiveness to his lips" (Prov. 16:23, NASB). You have the capacity to actually think the thoughts of God, to experience the joy of your heart beating in rhythm with His heart and to speak His words of encouragement to others. Let's get to it!
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